GUWAHATI, Sept 13: The Assam cabinet on Friday decided to transfer 32 cases registered in connection with the online trading scam to the CBI for investigation, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Addressing the press after chairing a meeting of the cabinet, Sarma said the decision was taken after he discussed the matter with Union home minister Amit Shah.
The transfer of the cases to the CBI would take about a month due to certain procedures involved, he said.
Firms, promoted mostly by men and women in their 20s, allegedly raised hundreds of crores of rupees from people on the promise that they would get huge returns by investing in the stock markets. However, these firms started to fail to repay investors over the last few weeks.
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So far, over 65 people have been arrested in connection with the scam, and 14 SITs set up to investigate the cases registered across districts under the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, besides the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Earlier in the day, Sarma said his suspicion about a man wanting to donate Rs 1 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund unearthed the multi-crore online trading scam.
The chief minister said though his government cracked the case and arrested those involved it was being unfairly targeted.
“When a youth came to donate Rs 1 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, I had doubts. I asked the officers to find out what he does and that is how the online trading scam came to light,” he said without naming the man.
“Attacking the person who brought the scam to light means giving ‘vitamin’ to those indulging in these crimes,” he added.
He said that those involved in the scam were made “heroes” by social media influencers, but “why is it now being made political by attacking me?”
Sarma said an inquiry has been ordered into how actress Sumi Bora and her husband Tarkik Bora were taken to a luxury hotel by the police after being apprehended on Thursday in connection with the scam.
“After they were detained in Dibrugarh, the police allowed a TV channel to interview them. This relationship between the police and journalists is a matter of concern,” he said.
The CM said he was in Mumbai when he saw the interview and immediately called the DGP to ask what was happening.
“The arrested duo should have been in lock-up but they were giving interviews. I ordered an inquiry into this,” he said.
He claimed social media influencers with links to the scam were constantly attacking the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls.
Asked about the absconding accused Deepankar Barman, Sarma said police were searching for him.
